Today we’re turning the space over to Sarah Tolcser, the founder of HornetsHype, to talk a little about her existence as one of the game’s best female bloggers in a decidedly male world. Fellas, check out her post (it’s good stuff), let her know what you think and keep it respectful in the comments section….

by Sarah Tolcser

This is a tale that should give hope to guys everywhere. It happened to me. It will happen again. It could even happen to you.

It starts with tickets.

My boyfriend bought us season tickets to the New Orleans Hornets. I wasn’t enthusiastic. You had to go two to three nights a week. The beers were pricey. Basketball was that sport with the guy who strangled his coach, the sport where it took twenty minutes to play the last ten seconds of a game. It was a drag.

Still, our guy Chris Paul was apparently good. The alley-oops were cool. And I appreciated the team’s shoulders.

(Tip #1: Hot men are like the NBA’s gateway drug. One day you’re drooling over dudes in tank tops with muscles. The next day you’re buying domain names and ranting about how the MVP is not a lifetime achievement award. Dudes, don’t get mad when she looks at the hot men. You look at the dance team.)

Sometime in early December, I voiced my first opinion. “I don’t think I want a Peja jersey,” I said. “It would be cute if we matched, but I kind of want a Tyson Chandler one.”

(Tip #2: Buy her real gear. Not the pink stuff.)

And then it was Christmas, and I was stuck at my parents’ house in New York with no cable. But it felt too weird missing a game. I furtively listened on my laptop as Chris Paul dropped 40 on the Grizzlies.

(Tip #3: Total immersion. Give her basketball. Then take it away. Tip #3A: Have Chris Paul on your team.)

One day in January, I had this conversation with my boyfriend:

Me: So I started a blog about the Hornets today.

Boyfriend: Seriously?

Me: Well, the domain only cost ten bucks, and I was mad. How come no one’s watching this team?

Boyfriend: You just bought a Hornets website.

Me: Yup.

I called myself “Ticktock6,” not because I was afraid people wouldn’t read if I was female, but because I didn’t feel like dealing with the garbage that comes with it (“So… are you hot?”). But then I ended up outing myself when I posted a pic around the All-Star Break.

Do I write “like a girl”? I don’t know. Certain things appeal to me more than the average fan: Behind the scenes stories. Team chemistry. Humor. I notice things that happen on the bench because I tend to watch people more than stats.

I think lines are changing and blurring. Girls are growing up playing sports, instead of watching their brothers and dads toss around a ball in the yard. People are more open-minded in this world where we’re all connected wirelessly. We have a Black president. I blog the Hornets. These things will keep happening. But it’s not a revolution, it’s evolution.

Good post though. I’m a Hornets fan living in the UK and would kill to get to see them 3 or 4 times a week…..Buuuut i’m no killer so i won’t get too.

By: fallinup

11.24.2008 @ 10:47 AM

It was a requirement that my future wife (now present) had to love basketball. Well, she came outta San Antonio and supposedly all they do there was eat authentic mexican food and watch the Spurs. And now I’m happily married. Be it to a die hard Spurs fan…which I don’t mind too much. In fact, the 2005 Finals between the Spurs and Detroit is probably the reason we are still together.

So to all you fellas out there thinking that you’d have to sacrifice the love of your life for another…I say wait it out for the right one…they ARE out there. Few and far between but they are.

By: Flip

11.24.2008 @ 10:53 AM

In fact, I’m gonna try this with my girl. Might actually work.

By: Andrew Katz

11.24.2008 @ 10:54 AM

Haha, well done.

By: Max

11.24.2008 @ 10:56 AM

Very nice job, Sarah. I loved one of the longer pieces you wrote to start the season talking about the anticipation for the season, and the Posey blog was hilarious. Too much hate for Bron, though. :-)

Keep the smarts and the passion going…a diversity of voices is always a good thing.

By: that's whats up

11.24.2008 @ 11:00 AM

we already know why your name is michorizo, but you just confirmed it

nice article – I’m happy wy wife loves hoop/sports. Her only complaint is that all sports games/matches last too long. that’s TV’s fault, but I need those advertising dollars too, so I can’t be mad…

By: nicole

11.24.2008 @ 11:01 AM

Paul Pierce? I’m from Toronto. I got a few friends started with Carlos Delfino. (Too bad he’s in Russia now.) For me, Anthony Parker is the way to go.

I’m a girl. The best way? Chicago Bulls playoff games from the late 90s. That’s how I fell in love with the game.

By: ticktock6

11.24.2008 @ 11:05 AM

@#7: That was my other half who hated on Bron. Haha.

By: Dariusz Ejkiewicz

11.24.2008 @ 11:07 AM

Sarah wow!! The queen bee is spreading the word over the internet. Good to see you on here. And to whoever asked the question, yeah she is HOT :P Lol All Hornets fans are HOT.

By: Mikey

11.24.2008 @ 11:21 AM

I think I’ve finally convinced my wife to go to a NBA game with me. Hopefully she will enjoy the experience and be receptive to seeing more.

Do you guys remember that show Daria? At the beginning, there is a part where a volleyball is hit towards Daria and she barely moves her arm. That’s pretty much my wife’s position on sports.

Luckily, I’ve been able to get her out to some baseball games (Spring Training in Florida is great). Also, I’ve gotten her to play some basketball and tennis with me. I’ve been trying to get her to go to an NBA game for a while. I think this might be the year.

By: loganlight

11.24.2008 @ 11:34 AM

Sarah,
Well put. I wish my wife was as easy to convert as you were! Keep holding it down for the ladies… er, some other cliche’ statement about gender roles.

LL

By: haslem

11.24.2008 @ 11:41 AM

lol tip #3A amazing.

By: The Jed

11.24.2008 @ 12:16 PM

Great post. Really well done. How long ago was all this? When did you buy the blog?

By: ticktock6

11.24.2008 @ 12:22 PM

@ Jed: We had the fake “season tickets” for the 6 games the Hornets played in NO when they were in OKC. Then we had the full year last year. So I pretty much fell in love with basketball between October and December. Got the blog in January. Spent my offseason reading up on the NBA and watching old games and stuff on YouTube.

You could say I’ve had a crash course.

By: Eduardo

11.24.2008 @ 12:37 PM

What a nice post, Dime I think you need a female voice in this thing…I don’t really think you write like a girl but you definitly show your “femininism”, I’m not saying that’s bad, in fact it’s interesting, like you said, you look more for people rather than stats, and that’s cool.
I like your way of seeing things, I don’t know, it’s just funny=)
Straight from Portugal, showing appreciation for what you write,

Eduardo.

By: HunnyB

11.24.2008 @ 12:39 PM

Good stuff ticktock6.

By: control

11.24.2008 @ 12:52 PM

Good job keeping pass the mic alive Dime.

Sarah

If you have a chance to meet Peja, absolutely do not take it. When I was learning Serbian, I learned that “Stojakovic” actually means “creepy rapist guy” and “Peja” means “Pedo”. My wife’s family knows some extended family members of his and they say that the name isn’t an accident.

True story.

By: Diego

11.24.2008 @ 12:56 PM

Great guest story. (And I like Eduardo’s thinking–ultimately the right female presence on Dime could be a a good thing.)

Yes, you can convert your lady to the NBA. The NBA is a great, exciting game, and by taking my wife of a little more than a year to gradually more games, I have seen her progession towards immersion. A first real sign is when she starts having her opinions of particular players. (My wife was even more critical of Marvin Williams’s and Zaza’s play last year than me. But that didn’t stop her from embarassingly blurting out “Zaza!!” when she happened to run into him at the mall in the off-season.)

In contrast, football is a lost cause for my wife (who is from a soccer (futbol) loving country). We watched one good college game at viewing party at a local watering hole a couple of years ago, and she just could not believe the length of the televised game–she was dying by the middle of the 3rd quarter. That was it for college football.

By: Chaos

11.24.2008 @ 12:58 PM

you gave me hope that their is women out there who can too love basketball as much as i do

By: GEE...mobile

11.24.2008 @ 1:01 PM

ticktock6 welcome to the cipher. Gotta love any female with appreciation for the game and all that comes with it. I loved your read and your tips were funny.

I took a different way myself and just married a female who played the game in h.s. So her appreciation was already there. Even more than football. We were at a Atl. falcons game last night (her team) and all during the game she is talkin about going to see the hawks (her team again) lol.

Anyway again welcome to the Cipher and Dime its always a good look when you pass-the-mic you all always choose wisley. Can’t wait to see who’s next.

By: Dime Magazine

11.24.2008 @ 1:06 PM

GEE –

It’s almost time for you to get after it again on the site…

– PC

By: GEE...mobile

11.24.2008 @ 1:37 PM

PC it’s always an honor, just let me know when.

By: Casey Lee

11.24.2008 @ 1:45 PM

Sarah,

Nice piece! You should display your creativity in addition to some photography too. Can you say: photojournalism?

Again, I agree to the: Paul Pierce? hmm…
“To each his/her own”

You should check out the Bounce blogs too…just as interesting as DIME blogs

By: ticktock6

11.24.2008 @ 1:58 PM

Re: P. Pierce. I know. He’s not particularly hot. I can’t explain it.

By: Kevin

11.24.2008 @ 2:52 PM

Nice article, good work!

By: rell

11.24.2008 @ 4:00 PM

Just went to your site and read some of your blog entries and I see why dime chose you. I liked your column on Lebron because I also feel that the media hype him up too much like he is Jordan. However, unlike you I feel he do improve his teammates and will take him on my team the Celtics in a heartbeat. I will probably still hate on him though kinda like I do Jesus Shuttleworth when he have those 2-14 shooting games.

By: mW

11.24.2008 @ 7:13 PM

I find it’s all about persistence, fellas. A few games here and there won’t do it. You have to keep going and going. Sports are almost all interesting and fun when you watch them enough. I find that most women who fit the “I don’t like sports” stereotype really just don’t understand them. Or as ticktock6 might suggest, are not looking at the right players.

By: QueSt???

11.24.2008 @ 7:14 PM

its a very good posts, i wish i could find a girl like that.

By: QueSt???

11.24.2008 @ 7:15 PM

post*

By: girlybballluver

11.24.2008 @ 8:59 PM

Tip 1…It always helps to have at least one hot guy on the team (sorry Gee, I don’t think anyone on the rockets meets that criteria)

Tip 2…Live in New York (or anywhere really) and show your girl videos of Kobe getting two-pieced by Childs…that was sooo awesome!!

Tip 3…you can’t be a fan of a team that sucks (well I guess you can, but it would take a lot more work to win her over) So fans of the grizzlies, twolves, bobcats and the like, you’ve got your work cut out for you.

Tip 4…In order for her to be able to truly appreciate what she’s watching she has to know the level of difficulty. How can you appreciate a dunk or buzzer beater if you think it’s something easy that everyone can do?

Tip 5…This is what normally annoys dudes, but you’ve gotta do it. Explain the game to her, and let her ask you questions, and answer them the best you can without getting impatient and annoyed. Oh yea, explain all the important terminology, sometimes basketball talk is like another language.

True story…A bunch of us were hanging in my friend’s dorm room a few years ago watching the allstar game. I was one of 3 girls in the room at the time. After every alley-oop the guys and I would all scream “alley!!!!” After about the third or fourth time, one of the girls asks out loud “Why do you guys keep calling him alley, isn’t his name Iverson?”…with a little explanation questions like this can be avoided.

By: Sweet English

11.25.2008 @ 7:08 AM

Great Article and i gotta give Dime regular bloggers props for keepin’ it clean in the comments section, you know how things can get.

Dime Mag, how about extending that reach a little and passing the mic over the ocean at some point? I think it would be good for you guys in a basketball nirvana to have a little insight into life in what is unfortunately a baron land of Hoops.

When you know what it feels like to get shut down in the pub for mentioning the words assists or steals or blocks or mention ANY team that isn’t followed by the words ‘United’ or ‘Town’, you will feel a little of our pain. We have to pretend that we like soccer, the most boring sport in the world which i grew out of aged 12, just to be accepted into normal society.

When you know how it feels to spend up to 2-3 hours driving around on any given weekend just looking for a pickup game to get some run, you will feel a little of our pain.

And it doesn’t help the fact that Luol (our only slice of representation) is pure stinking up the L right now.

By: David Brandon

11.25.2008 @ 2:10 PM

@ dime,

its really cool to see the site still growing and making other things happen. its great to come on here and always see something new. the guest spot was fresh and i’ve noticed there’s some new readers leaving comments now. so keep gettin’ after it, b/c its working.

@GEE,

my man! whats up dude!! yo, whenever you have another pass the mic, i dont wanna see you talkin about 5 pointers this time… ;-)

and last but def not least,

@ sarah,

aside from the fact that the hornets are my honorary team this year cause my kings are just hot garbage, i like your stuff! ouside of just seeing a different style and perspective, its quality and when you have a true love for something, its gonna show. keep at it and just have fun with it. at the end of the day, hoop is a game…unless the hornets dont make the playoffs. then it becomes a travesty. lol